YOUR FRUIT IDENTIFIES YOU.
Jesus admonished His disciples in Matthew 7:15-16, “Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ravenous wolves. You will know them by their fruits. Men do not gather grapes from thornbushes or figs from thistles".
This admonition does not address ministers in churches alone but also addresses parents and their children, the discipler and his disciple, mentor and mentee, leader and follower, master and servant, as well as trainer and trainee or apprentice.
Recently we lost a politically influential icon in our estate. Many of us residents hardly knew the man because of his nature and the exigencies of his office, but his children were very friendly and well mannered. My heart felt very heavy when I saw the once little girl who was very close to my late daughter crying profusely when she saw me. She had come from Canada to give her father a befitting burial. I comforted her from my heart. To me, her father had lived well. Among his children were pastors. A popular Yoruba adage says, 'Omo ti ejò bi, ejò l'ón jo'! (The child of a snake must look like the snake). God had ordered this natural law from the beginning when He spoke to all His creation to always produce their own kind (Gen.1:24).
I watched a movie and saw the pictorial representation of Noah and his children building the ark. Noah was old but had brought up his three sons not only in the knowledge and fear of God, he had imbibed in them the skill and prowess necessary to carry out the gargantuan task God placed before their father. The bible says Noah was a righteous man in his generation who walked with God (Gen. 6:9; 7:1). Had Noah been an unrighteous, uncaring father who had failed to nurture his sons in the way of the Lord and trained them in craftsmanship, there may have been no help for him to build the ark of salvation, a prototype of Jesus Christ.
By contrast, hear what God said concerning Eli and his sons, 'Why do you kick at My sacrifice and My offering which I have commanded in My dwelling place, and honor your sons more than Me, to make yourselves fat with the best of all the offerings of Israel My people?’ (I Sam. 2:29). Eli was self-centered; He sinned against God in the poor fisted manner he corrected his erring sons; He was concerned more for his own belly than his sons' atrocities over the people he was called to serve. God killed him and his sons together the same day! (1Sam. 4:17-18).
What type of parent are you and what brood of children are you raising? Are you intentional in raising Godly children or merely concerned with your own life neglecting God’s heritage He has trusted in your care? Are you not mindful of what becomes of our generation next? What legacy are we leaving behind when we are gone? What will our world be like after us? Many children of great men continue to bear their parents' name or tow their line of career, thus hanging on to their parents' successful identity.
While this is commendable, we must quickly admonish these ones to live better godly lives than their predecessors, so as to leave their world a better place for their own children. King David was a great king who left a great legacy through his son Solomon -another great king after him, but he was a philanderer who passed this fruit to his many children who brought disgrace to him with their promiscuous lifestyles before all Israel. David's fruit revealed his immoral sinful nature.
Our Lord Jesus Christ prayed this prayer for His followers: "Now I am no longer in the world, but these are in the world, and I come to You. Holy Father, keep through Your name those whom You have given Me, that they may be one as We are''. (John 17:11). This ought to be our own prayers too. Pray it daily for your fruits.
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